An Indian sandalwood tree which has been cut, exposing the valuable heartwood.

ABC Rural: Matt Brann

There is a gentle scent of Indian sandalwood wafting over the Kimberley's Ord Irrigation Scheme in Western Australia, as companies begin their 2017 harvest of the exotic timber.

Santanol, the Sandalwood Sanctuary and even Quintis are all busy harvesting this week.

The ASX-listed Quintis has been in a trading halt since May 15 following a share price crash, which was triggered by revelations the board was unaware the company had lost a major customer back in December.

Quintis told ABC Rural it had started harvesting up to 107 hectares of sandalwood in Kununurra, and that the watering and maintenance of plantations across northern Australia had continued as normal.

Away from the paddock, it is understood Quintis is finalising a response to ASX enquiries, while also investigating potential take-over bids.

The company was expected to exit its trading halt on June 7.

Ord Valley sandalwood grower confident about the industry's future

In 2000, sugar cane grower Paul Mock decided to plant five hectares of Indian sandalwood on his farm in the Kimberley's Ord Irrigation Scheme.

This week, he is busy harvesting some of those initial trees, which are now 17 years old.

"My wife and I planted these trees by hand with a shovel back in the year 2000, so it's good to see income finally come in after waiting that long," he said.

"The timber will get tumbled by a company down the road and we've got a contract to sell it to an Australian buyer.

"I can't say who it is, but it's a substantial customer who's been with us for a while, this is their third year that they've bought from us."

Irrigated plantation of Indian sandalwood growing on Paul Mock's farm in the Ord Valley.

ABC Rural: Matt Brann

Getting ready to replant sandalwood

Speaking to ABC Rural as he went about his harvest, Mr Mock was reluctant to talk too much about Quintis.

He said he was happy with the yields his trees were producing and felt the industry had a big future in the region.

"I'm confident the margins are there for the industry to stay long term [in this valley]," he said.

"It's not going to collapse.

"I believe that if we keep pushing with our genetic research, tissue culturing, grafting superior trees, improving our management techniques and keeping our costs down, I know I'm in it for the long-haul.

"I'm replanting this paddock [that I'm currently harvesting], I'm planting again because I'm that positive about it."

He said Quintis was a big employer in Kununurra, which made it difficult for the region not knowing what will happen next, but he believed the value of the plantations would hold their own.

"There's some really good plantations in this valley [owned by Quintis], there's some growing on my farm and I'd buy them [if Quintis went under]," he said.

"I'd take them on if that's what it came down too, because the trees are good... someone will buy them."

Ratings agency S&P Global downgraded its credit rating for Quintis this week from a B to CCC+, suggesting Quintis may struggle to meet its financial obligations.

"Continued delays in the sale of Quintis' Indian sandalwood products would, in our opinion, worsen plantation investor confidence and potentially result in materially lower investor inflows for the company," the ratings agency said.

Even before cases of strawberry sabotage crippled sales and cost the industry millions of dollars, Australian growers were despairing over dumping tonnes of perfectly good fruit that was too small or odd-shaped to find a market.